Citations Affected: IC 36-9-25.
Synopsis: Sanitation districts. Makes the following changes for a
department of public sanitation in a sanitation district (district) that
contains at least one city having a population of less than 100,000 and
at least one town: (1) Makes the department an executive department
of each municipality in the district. (2) Eliminates the bipartisan
membership requirements for the board of sanitary commissioners
(board). (3) Provides that sanitation commissioners currently serving
may not be reappointed. (4) Allows a district to perform certain
functions in the name of any municipality in the district or in the name
of the board. (5) Provides that fees related to property that is subject to
full taxation do not take effect until the fees are approved by the
legislative body of each municipality in the district or established by
the utility regulatory commission.
Effective: Upon passage.
January 5, 2006, read first time and referred to Committee on Local Government.
A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning local
government.
established under section 1(a) of this chapter and the district
contains at least one (1) city having a population of less than one
hundred thousand (100,000) and at least one (1) town, the board
consists of one (1) commissioner from each municipality in the
district. The executive of each of those municipalities shall
appoint one (1) commissioner. If after all appointments are made
the board has fewer than five (5) commissioners, the executive of
the municipality with the largest population shall appoint the
number of additional commissioners needed to bring the total to
five (5). Not more than three (3) of the commissioners may be of
the same political party.
(3) If the department is established under section 1(b) of this
chapter, the board consists of three (3) commissioners. Two (2)
commissioners shall be appointed by the city executive and one
(1) commissioner is the city civil engineer. However, if the
department is located in a county having a population of:
(A) more than one hundred five thousand (105,000) but less
than one hundred ten thousand (110,000);
(B) more than one hundred ten thousand (110,000) but less
than one hundred fifteen thousand (115,000);
(C) more than one hundred forty-eight thousand (148,000) but
less than one hundred seventy thousand (170,000); or
(D) more than one hundred thirty thousand (130,000) but less
than one hundred forty-five thousand (145,000);
and the city does not have a city civil engineer, the third
commissioner shall also be appointed by the executive. The third
commissioner, however, must be a licensed engineer with at least
five (5) years experience in civil or sanitary engineering. In
addition, in such a city the commissioners may not hold another
public office. Not more than two (2) of the commissioners may be
of the same political party.
(c) Before beginning the commissioner's duties, each commissioner
shall take and subscribe the usual oath of office. The oath shall be
endorsed upon the certificate of appointment and filed with the
municipal clerk.
(d) Each commissioner shall also execute a bond in the penal sum
of five thousand dollars ($5,000) payable to the state and conditioned
upon the faithful performance of the commissioner's duties and the
faithful accounting for all money and property that comes under the
commissioner's control. The bond must be approved by the municipal
executive.
(e) The appointed commissioners are entitled to a salary of not less
than three thousand six hundred dollars ($3,600) a year during actual
construction and not less than six hundred dollars ($600) a year in
other years.
(f) Notwithstanding IC 36-1-8-10, whenever this section requires
that the membership of the board of sanitary commissioners not exceed
a stated number of members from the same political party, at the time
of appointment the appointee must:
(1) have voted in the two (2) most recent primary elections held
by the party with which the appointee claims affiliation; or
(2) if the appointee did not vote in the two (2) most recent
primary elections or only voted in one (1) of those elections, be
certified as a member of the party with which the appointee
claims affiliation by that party's county chairman for the county
in which the appointee resides.
plant, or other structure that may be directly or indirectly
connected with sewers emptying into the sewage works does not
construct a purification plant, machine, or other device for
eliminating or treating the trade waste from those places for the
purpose of eliminating ingredients that would harm the sewage
works until the plans have been submitted to and approved by the
board. After plans have been submitted to the board, it may reject
them in their entirety or order changes to be made that include its
supervision and regulation of the operation. An appeal may be
taken from the decision of the board rejecting the plans submitted
or ordering changes by the owner, operator, or lessee of a
proposed private plant, in the same manner as appeals from the
works board as far as applicable.
(7) Build or have built a plant or plants and all appurtenances for
the treatment of sludge, pressing of sludge, or converting sludge
into marketable fertilizer.
(8) Sell any byproduct from the sewage works, or furnish any
byproduct free for the use of the municipality or for other public
uses, with revenue derived from the sale above the amount
needed for maintenance to be paid into the sanitary district bond
fund, or if no bonds are outstanding, to revert to its general fund.
(9) Compel the owners, lessees, or agents in possession of lots or
land from which sewers discharge sewage or drainage and pollute
a watercourse or body of water or constitute a menace to public
health and welfare to connect the sewers with drains leading
directly or indirectly into sewage works regulating the use and
assessing reasonable charges.
(10) Construct or have constructed regulating devices at the
junction of combined sewers with intercepting sewers to regulate
the discharge into the intercepting and connecting sewers to
prevent the pollution of streams or bodies of water or a menace to
the public health and welfare.
(11) Construct, add to, reconstruct, or maintain an incinerating
or reduction plant or other plants for the conversion, destruction,
or disposal of garbage, filth, ashes, dirt, and rubbish. and add to,
reconstruct, and maintain it. It The board may operate the plant
in connection with sewage works, and sell any byproducts derived
from the garbage, filth, ashes, or rubbish, including sand and
gravel taken from lands under the control of the board at prices
that are determined by the board, or furnish it free to the
municipality or for other public uses, with revenue derived above
the amount needed for maintenance to be paid into the sanitary
district bond fund, or if no bonds are outstanding, to revert to its
general fund.
(12) Take charge of all real property, belonging to the
municipality and under the control of the works board, suitably
located for sewage works if the board demands the works board,
subject to contracts, to relinquish and transfer control of real and
personal property used by the works board for the collection and
removal of garbage and ashes. The transfer of personal property
must be made by resolution adopted by the works board
describing the property, with a copy of the resolution to be
delivered to the board and made a matter of record in the minutes
of the proceedings of the board.
(13) Collect and remove, or contract for the collection and
removal of, all garbage, ashes, dead animals, refuse, and wastes
from domestic premises, and construct or have constructed
stations, including barns, garages, sheds, blacksmith shops,
dumps, incinerators, and all other useful or necessary
improvements for this purpose. This includes the power to collect
and remove soil and other sewage in areas not provided with
sewers, and then to discharge or dispose of it into sewage works.
(14) Enter into contracts in the name of the municipality, with the
approval of the executive as provided by law. However, in the
case of a district described in section 3(b)(2) of this chapter,
the board may enter into contracts in the name of:
(A) a municipality in the district, with the approval of the
executive of the municipality; or
(B) the district, with the approval of the board.
(15) Employ and pay for all engineering, architectural, legal, and
other professional services needed in carrying out this chapter,
including determining the number, prescribing the duties, and
fixing the compensation for all its engineers, chemists, attorneys,
bacteriologists, surveyors, inspectors, clerks, stenographers,
laborers, supervisors, and other employees as provided by law for
other executive departments of the municipality.
(16) Adopt resolutions, rules, and bylaws that are necessary to
carry out this chapter, including repealing or amending them
consistent with this chapter.
(17) Prepare a schedule of reasonable service fees and collect
them from persons who own, lease, or possess or control as
tenants or as agents lots or lands located outside the boundaries
of the district if the lots or lands are benefited by connection into
the sanitary sewer system of the district as described in this
chapter, with the proceeds from sewage connections and
treatment service credited to the general fund of the district for
general use and maintenance purposes. The fees may be fixed,
repealed, or amended, or the service discontinued, by the board
at its discretion.
(18) Sue or be sued in the name of the municipality, with payment
for obligations and of a judgment against the municipality in an
action to be made solely from funds of the department and its
district that may be available for this purpose. In the case of a
district described in section 3(b)(2) of this chapter, the board
may sue or be sued in the name of any municipality in the
district or in the name of the district. If a judgment is entered
against a municipality in the district, payment of obligations
and the judgment shall be made solely from available funds of
the department or the district.
(19) Pay for services rendered or for any other obligations
incurred by the board while executing its powers, or pay any
judgments, including interest and costs, by issuing and selling the
bonds of the district, or obtaining temporary loans or levying
taxes as authorized by this or other statutes for any other purpose.
(20) Lease, rent, purchase, and hold real or personal property
more than five (5) miles outside the boundaries of the district
if the property is needed:
(A) to store sludge;
(B) to convert sludge into marketable fertilizer; or
(C) by the district to conduct activities that are related to
activities described in clause (A) or (B).
administrative expenses, to pay the principal and interest on bonds as
they become due and payable, and to provide money for the revolving
fund authorized by this chapter.
(c) Fees may not be established until a public hearing has been held
at which all the users of the sewage works and owners of property
served or to be served by the works, including interested parties, have
had an opportunity to be heard concerning the proposed fees. After
introduction of the resolution fixing fees, and before they are finally
adopted, notice of the hearing setting forth the proposed schedule of
fees shall be given by publication in accordance with IC 5-3-1. After
the hearing the resolution establishing fees, either as originally
introduced or as amended, shall be passed and put into effect.
However, fees related to property that is subject to full taxation do not
take effect until they have been approved by ordinance of the municipal
legislative body or, in the case of a district described in section
3(b)(2) of this chapter, under section 11.3 of this chapter.
(d) A copy of the schedule of the fees shall be kept on file in the
office of the board and must be open to inspection by all interested
parties. The fees established for any class of users or property served
shall be extended to cover any additional premises thereafter served
that fall within the same class, without the necessity of hearing or
notice.
(e) A change of fees may be made in the same manner as fees were
originally established. However, if a change is made substantially pro
rata for all classes of service, hearing or notice is not required, but
approval of the change by ordinance of the municipal legislative body
is required, and, in the case of a district described in section 3(b)(2)
of this chapter, approval under section 11.3 of this chapter is
required.
(f) If a fee established is not paid within thirty (30) days after it is
due, the amount, together with a penalty of ten percent (10%) and a
reasonable attorney's fee, may be recovered by the board from the
delinquent user or owner of the property served in a civil action in the
name of the municipality.
(g) Fees assessed against real property under this section also
constitute a lien against the property assessed. The lien attaches at the
time of the filing of the notice of lien in the county recorder's office.
The lien is superior to all other liens except tax liens, and shall be
enforced and foreclosed in the same manner as is provided for liens
under IC 36-9-23-33 and IC 36-9-23-34.
(h) This subsection applies to fees due after July 1, 1988. A fee
assessed against real property under this section constitutes a lien
against the property assessed only when the fee is delinquent for no
more than three (3) years from the day after the fee is due.
(i) In addition to the penalties under subsections (f) and (g) and
section 11.5 of this chapter, a delinquent user may not discharge water
into the public sewers and may have the property disconnected from
the public sewers.
(j) The authority to establish a user fee under this section includes
fees to recover the cost of construction of sewage works from industrial
users as defined and required under federal statute or rule. Any
industrial users' cost recovery fees may become a lien upon the real
property and shall be collected in the manner provided by law. In
addition, the imposition of the fees, the use of the amounts collected,
and the criteria for the fees must be consistent with the regulations of
the federal Environmental Protection Agency.
taxes levied under this chapter, to do the following:
(A) Pay all legal and other necessary expenses incident to
the operation of the utility, including the following:
(i) Maintenance costs.
(ii) Operating charges.
(iii) Upkeep.
(iv) Repairs.
(v) Depreciation.
(vi) Interest charges on bonds or other obligations,
including leases.
(B) Provide a sinking fund for the liquidation of bonds or
other obligations, including leases.
(C) Provide a debt service reserve for bonds or other
obligations, including leases, in an amount established by
the board. The amount may not exceed the maximum
annual debt service on the bonds or obligations or the
maximum annual lease rentals, if any.
(D) Provide adequate money for working capital.
(E) Provide adequate money for making extensions and
replacements to the extent not provided for through
depreciation in clause (A).
(F) Provide money for the payment of taxes that may be
assessed against the district.
(3) The fees charged by the district must produce an income
sufficient to maintain district property in a sound physical
and financial condition to render adequate and efficient
service. Fees may not be too low to meet these requirements.
(4) If the board petitions the commission under subsection (e),
the fees established must produce a reasonable return on the
sanitary district facilities.
(5) Fees other than fees established for a municipally owned
utility taxed under IC 6-1.1-8-3 must be sufficient to
compensate the municipality for taxes that would be due the
municipality on the utility property located in the
municipality if the property were privately owned.
(6) The commission must grant a request by the board to
postpone an increase in fees until after the occurrence of a
future event.
(g) The board may transfer fees in lieu of taxes established
under subsection (f)(5) to the general fund of the appropriate
municipality.
(h) Fees established by the commission under this section take
effect to the same extent as if the fees were approved by an
ordinance adopted by the legislative body of each municipality in
the district.